Self-portrait by Corrado Govoni

Autoritratto

Corrado Govoni

Occhio sinistro
portali
gotici dell
cattedrale di fosforo del
mio cervello

Ciglia
raggi sguardi
diventano
tutto quello che guardano
un mare di fiori
un cielo di stelle
un albero tutto fresco
un grano di polvere
si librano con l’aeroplano
si curvano con l’arcobaleno
fuggono col treno in fiamme

Occhio destro
cerchio della morte delle lagrime

Ciglia
sono grandi come il sole
hanno la portata
di milioni di chilometri

Orecchio destro
tamburi
imbuti

orecchio 20 chilometri di circonferenza
c’entra lo schricchiolio dei fili di pioggia
lo spappolamento
del colpo di cannone

Naso
polpa elastica degli odori
proboscide lunga 20 metri

Labbra
macchina dattilografica
delle parole

divano pallido dei baci
porta umida della sala da pranzo
della bocca dove i denti giorno
e notte come bianchi convitati
banchettano intorno alla tavola
rossa della lingua

buco per insaccare i cibi nel sozzo sacco
di mendicante dello stomaco

tromba d’oro suonata dall’angelo bianco
verso un mezzodí di mare azzurro

Barba
erba di cimitero
che il barbiere falcia la domenica
davanti allo specchio

Self-portrait

Corrado Govoni

Left eye
gothic
portals of the
phosphorous cathedral of
my mind

Eye-lashes
glance rays
become
everything they behold
a sea of flowers
a sky of stars
a tree all freshness
a grain of dust
soaring with the airplane
arching with the rainbow
in flight with the burning train

Right eye
circle of death of the tears

Eye-lashes
are as big as the sun
and have a range
of millions of kilometres

Left ear
drums
funnels

ear circumference 20 kilometres
accommodates the tinkle of strands of rain
the crush
of the cannon crash

Nose
elastic pulp of the scents
elongated proboscis 20 metres

Lips
typing machine
of words

pastel sofa of kisses
damp doorway to the dining room
of the mouth where teeth day
and night like white house-guests
banquet around the red
table of the tongue

hole for food stuffed in the soiled sack
of the mendicant of the stomach

golden horn played by the white angel
towards a midday of mild blue sea

Beard
graveyard grass
that the barber mows on Sundays
in front of the mirror

Born in 1884, in Ferrara, Corrado Govoni was born to a family of well-to-do farmers. He had no formal education, except for a brief period in a private boarding school. In 1903 he moved to Florence where he came in contact with the main literary circles of the time. He became friends with Sergio Corazzini, Aldo Palazzeschi, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and others. He collaborated in periodicals such as Poesia, La Riviera Ligure, Lacerba and La Voce.
Other works by the same author: https://paralleltexts.blog/2017/02/05/questi-giorni-invernali-cosi-chiarithese-winter-days-that-are-so-very-clear-by-corrado-govoni/

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